The present invention relates generally to medical pumping apparatus and, more particularly, to such an apparatus having an inflatable bag with first and second separate fluid bladders which apply distinct compressive pressures to separate portions of a patient's foot.
Medical pumping apparatus have been employed in the prior art to increase or stimulate blood flow in a limb extremity, such as a hand or a foot. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,179, a pumping device is disclosed having an inflatable bag provided with a single bladder adapted to engage between plantar limits of the ball and heel of a foot to flatten the plantar arch and stimulate venous blood flow. Various embodiments of the inflatable bag are disclosed. Each embodiment, however, is provided with only a single bladder which engages only a limited portion of the foot.
It is believed that optimum venous blood flow in a foot is achieved when an inflatable bag is used that engages and applies pressure to a substantial portion of the foot. Oftentimes, however, an inflatable bag that encases a substantial portion of the foot and is inflated to a pressure level required to effect venous blood flow is found by the patient to be too uncomfortable.
The noted patent discloses a pump which communicates with the bag for cyclically inflating and deflating the bag. The pump, however, is not capable of recording patient compliance data (e.g, time, date and duration of each use by the patient) for subsequent downloading to a computer in a physician's office. Nor is it capable of having operating parameters input either manually or via a physician's computer.
The pumping device in the referenced patent also fails to include means for allowing a physician to run a prescreening test prior to prescribing use of the device to a patient to ensure that the patient does not have a venous blood flow problem, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The pumping device further lacks means for predicting for each individual patient an appropriate time period for deflation or vent cycles.
Accordingly, there is a need for-an improved medical pumping apparatus having an inflatable bag which engages a substantial portion of a patient's foot and achieves optimum blood flow at an acceptable patient comfort level. It is desirable that the apparatus include a fluid generator having a controller which is capable of creating and storing patient compliance data for subsequent transmission to a physician's computer. It is also desirable that the generator include a controller that is capable of storing operating parameters set manually via a manual selector or generated via a physician's computer. It would further be desirable to have a medical pumping apparatus which includes means for allowing a physician to run a prescreening test prior to prescribing use of the device to a patient to ensure that the patient does not have a venous blood flow problem. It would additionally be desirable to have a medical pumping apparatus provided with means for predicting for each individual patient an appropriate time period for deflation cycles.